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Crispy Chicken Salad with a Blueberry Vinaigrette

July 24, 2014

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You remember those delicious crispy fried chicken breasts I showed you yesterday? Well I hope you cooked extras because today I am going to show you something delicious to do with the leftovers! I told you I always cook extras and today and tomorrow I am going to show you just why I do that! This is a delicious salad with crisp fresh salad greens . . . I used baby rocket (arugula), baby gems and baby spinach . . . crisp French radishes, fresh cucumbers from the garden, crispy salad onions, toasted pecans, and crumbled feta cheese . . . and yes, fresh sweet blueberries that are coming into season now!You top all of that with some sliced crispy chicken . . . of course you can use frozen crispy chicken that you buy at the shops, but I am really hoping you have saved some from yesterday because that's the best. But that's not all . . . I have created a delicious blueberry dressing to drizzle over the salad . . . Sweet and tangy with a bit of heat from the Dijon mustard, it goes so well with all of the elements of this salad. The sweet berries . . . bitter greens . . . hot little radishes . . . the salty creaminess of feta cheese . . . those crunchy toasty roasted pecans . . . crisp fried chicken chunks . . . the bland almost melon-like coolness of those crisp edged cucumbers. There is nothing about this salad that isn't pleasing. Easy and quick to make. Pretty to look at with all of those colours and textures . . . delicious to eat. Plus the added bonus of being a tasty way to use up leftovers. And pretty darned healthy if I don't say so myself. BON APPETITE! (As Julia would say!)

You can either make your own breaded chicken breasts for this or use frozen breaded chicken breasts that you cook at home from frozen. Either way it is delicious.

3 cooked breaded chicken breasts, cut into slices crosswise

4 cups of mixed salad greens

1/3 of an English Cucumber, sliced into half moons (peeled or not as you wish)and handful of radishes, trimmed and quartered

60g of toasted pecans, broken (1/2 cup)

1 small punnet of fresh blueberries (1 cup)

115g of feta cheese, crumbled (1/2 cup)

a couple of tablespoons of crispy salad onions (like the durkee's)

For the dressing:

2 heaped dessert spoons of wild blueberry preserves (1/4 cup)

60ml of white balsamic vinegar (1/4 cup)

60ml of extra virgin olive oil (1/4 cup)

1 TBS Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp garlic powder

fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Whisk all of the salad dressing ingredients together to combine. Set aside.

Place your salad greens into a shallow salad bowl. Add the cucumber, radishes and blueberries, toss to combine. Top with the toasted nuts, the chicken, the onions and the feta cheese. Drizzle with the dressing and toss together to combine. Serve immediately.

Alternately the ingredients can be layered into individual salad bowls and the dressing passed at the table.

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About Me

Marie Rayner

Canadian ex pat deliciously living and cooking in the UK. I cook and eat every day. I like to take pictures of it and then share it with you!

How I got Here

Welcome to my English Kitchen. I moved over here to England from Canada in the year 2000. Before I arrived, I was told that the cooking and food over here was awful, except for the Roast Beef and the Fish and Chips. I had no idea of what to expect, but it didn't sound good.
I landed at Heathrow with a bulging suitcase full of kitchen tools, handwritten recipes and a 4 litre can of Maple Syrup, totally prepared to be greeted with the worst.
I am happy to say that over the past 17 years I have discovered that most of what I had heard was totally and completelywrong!
Here in the UK we have some of the best poultry, meats, fishes, ingredients and produce in the world, and some of the most innovative chefs. I have learned so much about cooking in the past fifteen years, and I've enjoyed trying and experiencing many new things, thankfully most of them wonderfully delicious!
I love English food . . . both the traditional, and the wonderful blend that is modern British Cuisine . . . a delicious mixture of a variety of tastes and cultures.
I hope you'll come along with me as I explore all the wonderful tastes, sights and textures that England has to offer even the most discerning of palates.

Contact Me

If you have any questions or want to work with me, feel free to e-mail me at mariealicejoan@aol.com

Colour me Chuffed

Thank You

TWEET

Did You Know???

Make Your Own Self Raising Flour:You can make your own self raising flour by adding 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt to every cup of plain flour.

Make Your Own Baking Powder:You can make your own baking powder by combining 1 tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda with 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar. It's ideal for coeliac sufferers who can't find the gluten-free variety of this raising agent, but measure it out carefully because too much or too little can upset a recipe's balance.

Make Your Own Mixed Spice:You can easily make your own mixed spice: Combine 1 TBS ground cinnamon, 1 tsp each of ground coriander and nutmeg, 1/2 tsp of ground ginger, 1/4 tsp each of ground cloves and all spice. Mix well and store in an airtight container out of the light for up to 6 months.

Make Your Own Cajun Seasoning: Mix together 2 1/2 TBS of salt, 1 TBS dried oregano leaves (Rub to a powder using your fingertips), 1 TBS sweet paprika, 1 TBS cayenne pepper, and 1 TBS ground black pepper. Store in an airtight container out of the light for up to six months.Make Your Own Pumpkin Pie Spice: Mix together 1 TBS ground cinnamon, 2 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 tsp ground allspice, 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg and a pinch of ground mace or ground cardamom. Store in an airtight container out of the light for up to 6 months.